Captain Beaky and His Band

"Captain Beaky & His Band (Not Forgetting Hissing Sid!!!)" (commonly shortened to "Captain Beaky & His Band" or just "Captain Beaky") are two albums (volumes 1 and 2) of poetry, written by Jeremy Lloyd, set to music by Jim Parker, and recited by a selection of celebrities. The albums generated two books of poetry, BBC television shows, a West End musical, a pantomime ("Captain Beaky And His Musical Christmas" performed by Twiggy, Eleanor Bron, Keith Michell, and Jeremy Lloyd at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London in December 1981), and performances by the New York City Ballet. The first album was released on vinyl in 1977 and the second in 1980 and both were re-released on compact disc in 2002.

Who Captain Beaky and his band are is perhaps best explained by the first verse of the title track from the first album, "Captain Beaky", which was itself released as a 7 inch single (with "Wilfred the Weasel" and "Blanche" on the B side) by Polydor in 1980 and that reached #5 in the UK charts::The bravest animals in the land are Captain Beaky and his band
That's Timid Toad, Reckless Rat, Artful Owl and Batty Bat.
They march through the woodlands singing songs
that tell how they have righted wrongs.

According to the story told by Jonathan Rowlands [cite web|url=http://www.captainbeaky.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=21&Itemid=48|author=Jonathan Rowlands (Producer)|publisher=CaptainBeaky.com|title=Captain Beaky & His Band] , the producer of both albums, when United Kingdom disc jockey Noel Edmonds heard fellow disc jockey Tony Blackburn play the record, "he grabbed it from his turntable, played it just once, and the result was that an atomic scientist who was on secondment with the British Museum, upon hearing the show and recognising that Captain Beaky's bete-noir Hissing Sid! was not all that bad, wrote in [to the BBC] proclaiming "Hissing Sid Is Innocent Okay!"."

The character of Hissing Sid was a snake, mentioned in both "Captain Beaky" on the first album and "The Trial of Hissing Sid" on the second. The slogan "Hissing Sid is Innocent!" became a popular catch phrase, appearing everywhere including as a graffito on walls (sometimes as a modification for earlier "George Davis is Innocent!" graffiti, especially after George Davis' second conviction), on badges, and on car stickers. [cite news|title=Poetry and music|work=The Spectator|date=2007-02-10|author=Bredin, Henrietta|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200702/ai_n17220617]

Track listings

Volume I

First released on vinyl in 1977. Re-released as a compact disc (EAN 5032796014621) in 2002.
# "Captain Beaky", Keith Michell
# "Harold the Frog", Harry Secombe
# "Jacques, a Penniless French Mouse", Peter Sellers
# "Nathaniel Gnat", Twiggy
# "Wilfred the Weasel", Keith Michell
# "Dilys the Daschund", Harry Secombe
# "The Snail", Twiggy
# "Blanche", Keith Michell
# "My Best Friend", Jeremy Lloyd
# "The Ginger Cat", Keith Michell
# "Desmond the Duck", Harry Secombe
# "Ronald the Rat", Twiggy
# "The Haggis Season", Peter Sellers
# "Dennis the Dormouse", Twiggy
# "Herbert the Hedgehog", Harry Secombe
# Overture "The Orchestra"

Volume II

First released on vinyl in 1980. Re-released as a compact disc (EAN 5032796014720) in 2002.
# "The Trial of Hissing Sid!!!", Keith Michell
# "Jock the Flea", Jeremy Lloyd
# "Candle Tango", Keith Michell
# "Fred and Marguerite", Petula Clark
# "Helen the Hippo", Penelope Keith
# "Mandy the Mouse", Noel Edmonds
# "Fanshaw the Fly", Keith Michell
# "Stanley the Stork", Peter Skellern
# "Kenny the Koala", Harry Secombe
# "Daddy Long Legs", Peter Skellern
# "Browser Long", Penelope Keith
# "Enrico the Canary", Harry Secombe
# "Teddy's Tea Time", Jeremy Lloyd
# "Wendell the Worm", The King's Singers
# "The Bumble Bee", Petula Clark
# "Dotty the Cuckoo", Noel Edmonds
# "Camille", Matthew Vine
# "Captain Beaky's Christmas Pantomime", Keith Michell
# "Captain Beaky's Christmas Carol", Matthew Vine

Captain Beaky And His Band

Most of Volume I and Volume II, slightly re-ordered, issued as a cassette by Polydor.
# "Captain Beaky", Keith Michell
# "Harold the Frog", Harry Secombe
# "Jacques, a Penniless French Mouse", Peter Sellers
# "Desmond the Duck", Harry Secombe
# "Wilfred the Weasel", Keith Michell
# "Dilys the Daschund", Harry Secombe
# "The Snail", Twiggy
# "Blanche", Keith Michell
# "My Best Friend", Jeremy Lloyd
# "The Ginger Cat", Keith Michell
# "Nathaniel Gnat", Twiggy
# "Ronald the Rat", Twiggy
# " [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kmr/lyrics/album1/haggis.htm The Haggis Season] ", Peter Sellers [http://www.btinternet.com/~poetspage/beaky/haggis.mp3 mp3]
# "Dennis the Dormouse", Twiggy
# "Herbert the Hedgehog", Harry Secombe
# Overture "The Orchestra"
# "Jock the Flea", Jeremy Lloyd
# "Candle Tango", Keith Michell
# "Fred and Marguerite", Petula Clark
# "Doreen the Duckling", The King's Singers
# "Helen the Hippo", Penelope Keith
# "The Trial of Hissing Sid!!!", Keith Michell
# "Mandy the Mouse", Noel Edmonds
# "Fanshaw the Fly", Keith Michell
# "Kenny the Koala", Harry Secombe
# "Daddy Long Legs", Peter Skellern
# "Browser Long", Penelope Keith
# "Enrico the Canary", Harry Secombe
# "Teddy's Tea Time", Jeremy Lloyd
# "Wendell the Worm", The King's Singers
# "The Bumble Bee", Petula Clark
# "Dotty the Cuckoo", Noel Edmonds
# "Camille", Matthew Vine
# "Captain Beaky's Christmas Pantomime", Keith Michell

Books

* cite book
title=Captain Beaky and the Haunted Wood
author=Jeremy Lloyd
date=October 1980
publisher=Chappell
id=ISBN 0-903443-43-0
* cite book
title=Captain Beaky and the Search for Hissing Sid
author=Jeremy Lloyd
date=October 1980
publisher=Chappell
id=ISBN 0-903443-44-9
* cite book
title=Captain Beaky
author=Jeremy Lloyd
date=April 1982
publisher=Sparrow Books
id=ISBN 0-09-928110-4 a collection of 28 poems illustrated by Keith Michell
* cite book
title=The Woodland Gospels According to Captain Beaky and His Band
author=The Archbishop of Canterbury (Foreword), Jeremy Lloyd, Graham Percy (Illustrator)
date=April 1990
publisher=Faber and Faber Ltd
id=ISBN 0-571-14285-0 a retelling of parts of the story of Jesus set in a woodland

References

External links

* [http://captainbeaky.com/ Captain Beaky official web site]
* [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz./~kmr/beaky.htm Karen Rayner's Captain Beaky fansite]
* — A Usenet post by Mike Lyle outlining the case for the Defence